Tucker '48 Automobile Bulletin Board

by **davidm** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 5:29 am

Hi, I've just found this bulletin board and am interested in finding out what is known about Tucker 51. I'm the nephew of Chick DeLorenzo, but it's been a long while since I've talked to him about his Tucker. What I think I know about it is this: 
 
* Tucker 51 was not part of the original production run of Tucker and was in mere pieces(?) when Tucker shutdown. 
 
* Chick's father (my grandfather) was to be the NJ dealer of Tucker and invested a lot of money (for him) into Tucker (which was lost after Tucker shutdown). 
 
* Although he always wanted to, Chick never had the money to get involved with Tuckers until the mid-80s when he made a deal for the pieces of Tucker 51 (I never really understood the deal or who it was with). 
 
* The Tucker movie was Chick's first involvement with Hollywood and really only amounted to him getting a walk-on part (I have pictures of him in the background of one scene). I got the impression that he was slightly involved with the cars (at least his Tucker) -- but not much. Tucker 51 was still not in good shape at the time of the movie. 
 
* Since the movie, I know he completed Tucker 51 and it looks great in the picture he sent, but I don't know much else about what he's done with it. 
 
I noticed that there is a picture of #51 on the TACA website (under "See a Tucker"), but I don't see Chick mentioned as the owner like other owners are mentioned. What's up?

by **jfollis640** » Sun Jul 27, 2003 1:04 am

Davidm, 
 
It appears as though you have most the facts on Tucker #1051. 
 
The owner of this car does not appear on the website due to a desire to protect owner's privacy. Only those cars available for public viewing are detailed on the site. 
 
This car was body #1054 which was incomplete when it was purchased by the Poll Museum of Zeeland, Michigan. They had hoped to obtain enough parts to build a Tucker and did get an engine, etc. before they sold it in 1986. It has since been completed. 
 
It was taken to Richmond CA for the filming of the 1988 movie but was not used or shown in the film. 
 
This was the first Tucker car I ever saw, albeit incomplete, while it was here in Michigan. I have seen photos, but not the actual car, since it was built as it has never been to a Tucker Convention. 
 
Jay

by **davidm** » Mon Jul 28, 2003 4:44 am

Ahh. That's a couple of interesting points. I thought Chick was a member of some Tucker club for awhile, but I don't know which (or if there is more than one). I know Chick was never very wealthy and not very healthy of late, so I could understand him not carting it to shows unless they were close by (I remember him saying he did it a few times, but I don't remember what shows). 
 
Normally, I wouldn't post this much about someone, but I did see a couple of other posts here about Chick and #51 that "piqued" my interest. I hope he won't mind... 
 
<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)">

by **franklinflat6** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 9:12 pm

Mr. Masterson, 
I know your uncle Chick he is a good person and I love talking with him on a weekly basis he has so many good stories to tell and has a lot of interesting facts under his belt. I am buying the Tucker molds from him to build Tucker replicas that are Volkswagen based. 
 
Brett Ping

Tucker '48 Automobile Bulletin Board

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